Graduating Seniors Testify to Elev8’s Strengths

“I had no clue what I was going to do with my life after high school,” said Kaylor Oscar. “The health center helped me manage my weight, which introduced me to the study of science, which led me to want to become a forensic chemist.”

erranisha Douglas, left, and Amber Sims, graduating seniors at Perspectives Academy in Auburn Gresham, say the Elev8 programs they experienced in middle school helped prepare them for life in high school and beyond. They're both attending college in the fall.

GORDON WALEK

“It showed me I could be a leader,” said Amber Sims.

“You learn different skills,” said Nafatari Hale. “It’s really fun.”

Oscar, Douglas, Sims and Hale, all high school seniors at Perspectives Academy in Auburn Gresham, were reminiscing about their middle-school experiences with Elev8 – an effort of LISC Chicago and Atlantic Philanthropies to prepare sixth- through eighth-grade students for high school and beyond.

When they graduate this spring, the four will be among the roughly 65 percent of Chicago public school students to earn a diploma after entering high school four years ago. All four plan to attend college in the fall, along with many of their classmates at Perspectives, which boasts high college enrollment rates. But these four represent a unique subset of young people whose interests were shaped by participation in the Elev8 program, which has been supported since 2008 by large grants from The Atlantic Philanthropies.

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To foster and promote revitalization of the community by designing and implementing programs that improve the community’s economic viability; increase availability of quality housing to people of different income levels, while maintaining and improving existing affordable housing; and enhance delivery of social services, particularly to senior citizens.